5 Insider Tips for Making the Most of Business Credit Cards

As a small business owner, there are several reasons it’s helpful to take full advantage of your business credit card. From tracking rewards, building business credit, and accessing all your card benefits, a business credit card can help you increase your bottom line and streamline your accounting process. Below are five insider tips for making the most of your business credit cards.

1. Build Business Credit

If you’re a small business owner who’s just starting out, using a business credit card can help you build a strong history of credit and establish a good reputation for paying your bills on time. Start by making sure that your business accounts are all in the legal name of your business entity. This will make it easier for creditors to verify the legitimacy of your business and begin tracking your credit.

Consistently monitor your business and personal credit profiles and look for areas of improvement. Keep an eye out for any red flags related to identity theft or fraudulent purchases. With responsible credit card use, you can put your business in a positive light for future vendors, financial institutions, and other business financing options.

Sign up for automatic billing so you’ll always be sure to pay your balance on time. Nothing helps build business credit like paying your bills and proving that you’re a trustworthy business owner. You can also set up a reminder in your phone, or on your calendar, when your payment comes due, as even just one missed payment can reduce your business credit score.

2. Maximize and Redeem your Rewards

One of the best things about using a business credit card is the rewards you can earn on all your purchases. To fully maximize your rewards, read over the reward details and register your card with any participating partners. Sign up for bonus alerts and limited-time offers and follow your card issuer on social media so you don't miss out on extra rewards.

Always make purchases and pay your bills with your business credit card. Request that any vendors process payments to your account using this card as well. Doing this will help you earn the most rewards and points possible. Encourage any employees to use your business credit card for any business-related purchases instead of using their own cards and asking for reimbursement.

Finally, make a note on your calendar of when your rewards expire and redeem them in plenty of time.

3. Take Advantage of Card Benefits and Discounts

Most business cards come with additional benefits and discounts for cardmembers. You’ll want to follow the instructions of your sign-up bonus to make sure you get all the perks available to new cardmembers. Find out the extras your credit card account has by asking customer service or reviewing your card’s fine print.

Some of the most common card benefits for business credit cards include:

End-of-year financial reports and summaries

Easily export of your transactions to bookkeeping software

No foreign transaction fees for travelers

Money-saving discounts with companies like FedEx, Hertz, and OfficeMax

Buyer purchase and return protection

Travel insurance and rental car insurance

TSA pre-check and free Global entry

Access to airport lounges and other airport perks

Extended warranties on certain purchases

In addition to these benefits, some business credit cards also offer 0% interest periods, saving you money on interest charges when financing business-related items. Keep track of your reward balance, and other card benefits, by using an app like AwardWallet. It will track your account balance and alert you of any changes and important information.

4. Streamline paperwork and receipts all in one place

As a small business owner, you have enough paperwork to deal with on a daily basis that you don’t want to mess with additional papers or receipts. A business credit card makes it easy to streamline your paperwork and store all of your business transactions in one place—your credit card statement.

With online banking access, you can reference any purchase you made, send your accountant any financial reports they need, and even export your transactions to Excel or QuickBooks. All of this will help reduce time spent on bookkeeping and ultimately reduce the amount of paperwork you have to keep track of. You’ll spend less time bookkeeping and tracking expenses and more time handling the important tasks that will increase your business’ bottom line.

5. Track Deductible Business Expenses

As a sole-proprietor, or single-member LLC, there are quite a few tax deductions you can take for expenses related to regular operating expenses and equipment. Using a business credit card makes it easy to get all the tax deductions you qualify for, which can reduce the amount of taxes you owe at the end of the year.

You can also use your credit card statements as a way of keeping tabs on employee spending and other expense reports, so you’ll be able to stay on budget. And don’t forget that any interest and fees paid on your business credit card are tax deductible.

Bottom Line

To help your business grow, you have to spend your time wisely and watch the bottom line. A smart way to accomplish both of these things is by using a business credit card and making the most of it. You’ll be able to start benefiting from the rewards and using the perks to serve both you and your employees better.

In addition, you’ll be saving yourself (and your accountant) a lot of time by using your credit card statements to streamline your bookkeeping process.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carrie Smith is a financial writer and founder of Careful Cents, a blog and community aimed at helping freelancers overcome financial mountains. Her mission is to focus on building client-based businesses through meaningful relationships. She's been featured and published in Glamour Magazine, The Huffington Post, Inc and many other media outlets. Learn more about her and connect with her in real time on Twitter @carefulcents. Learn more about Carrie Smith

EDITORIAL NOTE

Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer.

Credit Cards Explained may earn affiliate commissions from our partners on this page. These commissions do not affect how we select, rate, or review products. To find out more, read our complete terms of use.

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Credit Cards Explained may earn affiliate commissions from our partners on this page. These commissions do not affect how we select, rate, or review products. To find out more, read our complete terms of use.